Every believer knows that a battle is coming. Every Christ follower is aware of the end of days fast approaching. As we await the coming war, we must also prepare for the coming threats that will rise against us. I don’t mean preparing for famine or flood, though we would be wise to do this as well, I’m speaking of preparation of the soul.
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I invite you to read Ephesians 6:10-20 along with this short study devotional.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds me that my battles are not against flesh and blood but against spiritual beings and darkness. I need to be prepared for the spiritual battles ahead no matter what form they may take when they appear. Not every spiritual attack will appear in spiritual form. Though some of us may be able to see into the spiritual world and perceive what things are from darkness, others may not. Some attacks may seem to come from the basic of places; friends, family, employers, outside sources that are being manipulated by the enemy. These may also be spiritual attacks.
Any attack that challenges my faith or gives me reason to doubt my salvation is an attack from the enemy. That is why we are called to put on the full armor of God and protect our souls.
Truth
Verse 14 says to gird your waist with truth. Am I doing that? Are you? How do we know? In order to girl my waist with truth I need to wrap myself in the truth that I know is God. I cannot let the enemy try to trick me with lies and change what I know to be true. Instead, I must focus on the things I know to be right and true. God is Good(Psalm 100:5). God is Love(1 John 4:8). This good and loving God sent His Son as a sacrifice for my sins. How then, could He not love me?
Righteousness
This verse also tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness. When I think about a suit of armor, the breastplate is mean to cover my vital organs and protect them from injury. This includes my heart, which can easily be swayed by emotions and fleshly desires, distracted by idols, and deceived by well practiced lies.
Protecting my heart requires me to remove the things in my life which might cause me harm. Much like eating rotten foods or poisoned drinks will harm my body, allowing things into my life that don’t belong there can can damage my heart and soul(my spiritual vital organs). My body is a vessel for the Holy Spirit. Would I not clean my house if Jesus came to visit me? In the same way, I must clean my heart so the Holy Spirit May dwell within me.
Cleaning your heart or spiritually cleaning house means removing the things which distract you from your relationship with God or cause you to sin. Sometimes it’s people, or hobbies, or possessions.
If you would like more about cleaning the house within your heart, check out my proverbs 31 blog, How to clean the house inside my heart.
Crafty time
Here is a fun cricut craft for a breastplate of righteousness bookmark. This pattern is free by unfortunately the font I have chosen is not. If you are a member of Cricut access, you may be able to use this font without purchase. If you would like to create this breastplate bookmark without the font, you can use this free pattern. Happy crafting!
For this project you will need:
2 sheets of cardstock. 1 light grey and one dark grey
cricut fine pointe 0.4 pen in black
gluestick
one piece of cut ribbon 8-10 inches
Have an amazing blessed day little sparrows
-ScriptureSparrow
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